Alabama football could be on the verge of getting bad news this summer
Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide could be on the verge of receiving some late-summer bad news. Earlier this week, Northwestern fired longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald due a report about hazing that was published recently. Fitzgerald denies knowledge of the hazing, but Northwestern fired him because as the head coach, he's expected to […]
Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide could be on the verge of receiving some late-summer bad news.
Earlier this week, Northwestern fired longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald due a report about hazing that was published recently.
Fitzgerald denies knowledge of the hazing, but Northwestern fired him because as the head coach, he's expected to know everything that's happening in his program.
The firing of Fitzgerald means Northwestern has a rare July coaching search on their hands.
One coach that's already been mentioned as a candidate to replace Fitzgerald is Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, who was hired by Saban earlier this offseason.
The Athletic's Bruce Feldman pointed to Rees as a potential option for Northwestern.
From The Athletic: Another Power 5 OC we think will be on Northwestern’s radar is new Bama offensive coordinator Rees, a Chicago native and a guy who got his coaching start as a Wildcats GA in 2015. Rees knows plenty about what it’s like to work in a high academic program, having quarterbacked and then coached at Notre Dame. That would be a big plus. At 31, Rees is still exceptionally young, and his time under Nick Saban only figures to help his career down the road.
Rees, as Feldman noted, was a graduate assistant at Northwestern in 2015. He also grew up in Lake Forest, IL, which is just 30 minutes away from Northwestern.
It's easy to see why Northwestern would be an attractive job to Rees. And if he's offered the job, it's hard to see him turning it down.
Of course it's entirely possible that Northwestern goes with an interim coach this fall before going through a full coaching search in late November/December.
The last thing Alabama wants is to lose its new offensive coordinator less than two months before the start of the season — especially with the Crimson Tide turning to a new quarterback in 2023.
My gut says Rees stays at Alabama, but until Northwestern makes a hire, Bama fans are certainly going to be nervous as they could be embarking on a search for an offensive coordinator at a less-than-ideal time.
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